Borrowed from Ge'ez መልአክ (mälʾäk, “messenger; angel”), the plural of which is መላእክት (mälaʾəkt), itself a calque of Aramaic מַלְאֲכָא / ܡܠܐܟܐ (malʾăḵā, “angel, messenger”) and Hebrew מַלְאָךְ (malʾā́ḵ, “angel, messenger”), closer in Tigrinya መልኣኽ (mälʾax), Amharic መልኣክ (mälʾak), መላክ (mälak) of which the plural is መላእክት (mälaʾəkt). Compare the root ل ء ك (l-ʔ-k) and لَأَكَ (laʔaka), أَلْأَكَ (ʔalʔaka, “to send as a messenger”), which was regularly used as the normal word for “to send” in Ge'ez ለአከ (läʾäkä) as well as in Ugaritic 𐎍𐎛𐎋 (lỉk), 𐎍𐎀𐎋 (lảk) for which the normal Arabic word is أَرْسَلَ (ʔarsala) upon which one has formed رَسُول (rasūl, “messenger; apostle; angel”), with the same pattern native Ge'ez ልኡክ (ləʾuk, “messenger; apostle; cantor”).
مَلْأَك • (malʔak) m (plural مَلَائِك (malāʔik) or مَلَائِكَة (malāʔika))
| Singular | basic singular triptote | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Indefinite | Definite | Construct | |
| Informal | مَلْأَك malʔak |
الْمَلْأَك al-malʔak |
مَلْأَك malʔak |
| Nominative | مَلْأَكٌ malʔakun |
الْمَلْأَكُ al-malʔaku |
مَلْأَكُ malʔaku |
| Accusative | مَلْأَكًا malʔakan |
الْمَلْأَكَ al-malʔaka |
مَلْأَكَ malʔaka |
| Genitive | مَلْأَكٍ malʔakin |
الْمَلْأَكِ al-malʔaki |
مَلْأَكِ malʔaki |
| Dual | Indefinite | Definite | Construct |
| Informal | مَلْأَكَيْن malʔakayn |
الْمَلْأَكَيْن al-malʔakayn |
مَلْأَكَيْ malʔakay |
| Nominative | مَلْأَكَانِ malʔakāni |
الْمَلْأَكَانِ al-malʔakāni |
مَلْأَكَا malʔakā |
| Accusative | مَلْأَكَيْنِ malʔakayni |
الْمَلْأَكَيْنِ al-malʔakayni |
مَلْأَكَيْ malʔakay |
| Genitive | مَلْأَكَيْنِ malʔakayni |
الْمَلْأَكَيْنِ al-malʔakayni |
مَلْأَكَيْ malʔakay |
| Plural | basic broken plural diptote; broken plural triptote in ـَة (-a) | ||
| Indefinite | Definite | Construct | |
| Informal | مَلَائِك; مَلَائِكَة malāʔik; malāʔika |
الْمَلَائِك; الْمَلَائِكَة al-malāʔik; al-malāʔika |
مَلَائِك; مَلَائِكَة malāʔik; malāʔikat |
| Nominative | مَلَائِكُ; مَلَائِكَةٌ malāʔiku; malāʔikatun |
الْمَلَائِكُ; الْمَلَائِكَةُ al-malāʔiku; al-malāʔikatu |
مَلَائِكُ; مَلَائِكَةُ malāʔiku; malāʔikatu |
| Accusative | مَلَائِكَ; مَلَائِكَةً malāʔika; malāʔikatan |
الْمَلَائِكَ; الْمَلَائِكَةَ al-malāʔika; al-malāʔikata |
مَلَائِكَ; مَلَائِكَةَ malāʔika; malāʔikata |
| Genitive | مَلَائِكَ; مَلَائِكَةٍ malāʔika; malāʔikatin |
الْمَلَائِكِ; الْمَلَائِكَةِ al-malāʔiki; al-malāʔikati |
مَلَائِكِ; مَلَائِكَةِ malāʔiki; malāʔikati |